Chapters 9-11
In chapters 3:21 to 8:39 we have had the righteousness of God declared in the gospel. Now in chapters 9-11 we see the righteousness of God displayed in His dispensational ways.
The Reconciliation of the Gospel With God’s Promises to Israel
This part of the epistle deals with the main objection that the Jews have with the gospel Paul preached. In their minds, his message was that God was finished with Israel and that the promises that He had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, concerning the nation's blessing were now null and void. And this is all because God, on a whim, has decided to make a new departure toward the Gentiles with the gospel!
Since this is contrary to what is stated in the Old Testament Scriptures, which are replete with unconditional promises regarding the blessing of Israel, the Jews naturally rejected Paul’s gospel. The prophets of Israel portray a coming day when that nation will be blessed of God under the reign of their Messiah. Many earthly blessings will be bestowed on them, such as: supremacy over the Gentile nations, wealth, long life, etc. The hope of every God-fearing Jew is to be part of that coming scene of earthly glory. If it’s true that God has broken off His dealings with Israel and it’s now all over for them, then God has broken His promises! The Jews knew that this was something God could not do, because He would be denying Himself (Heb. 6:17-18). (And they are quite right about this!) Thus, they concluded that the gospel Paul preached was a spurious and heretical thing, and rejected it out-rightly.
Knowing that what he preached could be a stumbling-block to the Jews, if not understood properly, Paul goes at once to setting this straight. In these next chapters (9-11), he shows that the Jews had mis-information about what he taught concerning the gospel and God's promises to Israel. He carefully explains that the Gospel of the Grace and the Glory of God (which he preached) does not in any way nullify, set aside, or even touch the promises of God to Israel. In fact, Paul taught that the promises that God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob still stand as God gave them, and they will be realized by Israel in a coming day, in a literal sense—which is totally orthodox from a Jewish standpoint.
This is important for us to understand, because, sad to say, there are Christian teachers (Reformed theologians) who erroneously teach a system of doctrine (called “Replacement” or “Covenant” Theology) which states that the hopes of Israel are null and void! And, that the promises God made to the patriarchs will not be fulfilled to Israel in a literal sense! Instead, they tell us, that those promises have been fulfilled in the Church today in some spiritual sense! In view of these serious misunderstandings, Paul's teaching in this part of the epistle has a double purpose today. Firstly, it shows the Jews that the promises of God to Israel have not been made null and void by the gospel, and thus they will all be fulfilled literally, as God has said in His Word. And secondly, it shows that those who have imbibed Reformed Theology are sadly mistaken about their ideas concerning God's promises to Israel being "spiritualized" in the Church.
Thus, in these next three chapters, Paul reconciles the teaching of the gospel with the promises of God to Israel. He quotes from the Old Testament no less than 30 times in this section of the epistle. This shows that he was writing predominantly for those who knew the Scriptures—i.e. the Jews. He shows from God's Word that God has not gone back on His promises to Israel.
A Suspension in God’s Dealings With Israel
While God will not go back on His promises to Israel, Scripture indicates that He would temporarily suspend His dealings with them and they would be set aside nationally on account of their unbelief and rejection of Christ the Messiah. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to the student of Old Testament Scripture, for there are a number of places that indicate this (Psa. 69:22-28; Dan. 9:26-27; Micah 5:1-3; Zech. 11:4-14, etc.). There are types that indicate it as well—in Joseph, Moses, David, etc. (Gen. 37; Ex. 2; 1 Sam. 17). There are also prophecies that indicate that after the Jews pass through a time of trouble yet to come (Dan. 9:27; 12:1; Jer. 30:7; Mic. 5:3), God will resume His dealings with them, whereupon a remnant of the nation will repent and receive the Lord Jesus as their Messiah, and thereafter blessed in His millennial kingdom. However, Scripture does not say that this coming blessing for the nation of Israel (which will be the fulfilment of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) will be the portion of every single Israelite. Many of them will show themselves to be faithless and will miss out on this national blessing (Psa. 135:14; Ezek. 11:9-10; 20:38; Dan. 12:2; Amos 9:9-10; Zech. 13:8-9, etc.).
The teachings of Paul in the New Testament, therefore, in no way interfere with the earthly blessings that God promised to Israel. His preaching and teaching have to do with what God is presently doing while Israel is temporarily set aside. He shows that God is presently visiting the Gentiles with favour and privilege, and is calling them by the gospel of His grace (Acts 15:14) to be part of an altogether new thing that Christ is building—the Church of God, which is His (mystical) body (Matt. 16:18; Eph. 1:22-23). This is a heavenly company of believers, separate and distinct from (restored) Israel and the Gentile nations who will be blessed with Christ on earth in His kingdom in a coming day. Thus, there is a wonderful and glorious future for Israel as their Prophets have foretold.
The reason for this present call of the gospel is that God has purposed that when Christ reigns publicly in His kingdom, He will have both a heavenly and an earthly company of blessed persons to reign with Him (Eph. 1:10). The present call is simply the gathering out of those who will form the Church, which will be part of the heavenly company. It will consist of the Church (Eph. 2:6; Phil. 3:20; Heb. 3:1; 12:22-23a; Rev. 21:9-22:5), the Old Testament saints “made perfect” by being raised and glorified (Dan. 7:18, 22, 27 – "the saints of the high places;" John 3:29; Heb. 12:23b), and, children who have died under the age of understanding, who will also be raised (Matt. 18:10-11). The earthly department in the kingdom will consist of restored Israel and the converted Gentile nations.
Those who respond to the call of the gospel today are made part of the Church. As mentioned, it is a heavenly entity with heavenly blessings and hopes, having a heavenly destiny. Paul does not disclose the details of this new departure toward the Gentiles (called the Mystery) here in the epistle to the Romans, because he is primarily occupied with Israel's side of things. Thus, this interposed, heavenly calling is like a parenthesis in God's dealings with Israel; it does not in any way upset or nullify the promises He made to them. Paul's purpose in Romans 9-11 is to show the Jews that the nation of Israel hasn't lost anything that has been promised to it. If they would repent and receive Christ—which a remnant of them will do in a coming day—all that has been promised to them nationally will be theirs in the fullest sense. Paul also shows in these chapters that some Jews today have "pre-trusted" in Christ by believing the gospel of their salvation which Paul preached (Eph. 1:12-13). He calls them "a remnant according to the election of grace" (Rom. 11:5) and "the Israel of God" (Gal. 6:16). As a result of their reception of Christ now, they have been made part of the Church (Eph. 3:6).
A day will come when God's outreach to the Gentile nations with the gospel of His grace will be over, and “the fulness of the Gentiles” will be “come in” (chap. 11:25). This means that the full number of Gentiles who will believe the gospel according to the election of grace will be complete. The Rapture will then take place (1 Thess. 4:15-18), and all who have believed the gospel (Christians) will be taken to heaven, whereupon God will begin to deal with Israel again to bring a remnant of the nation into blessing with Christ on earth in His millennial kingdom. This simple sequence in God's ways with “the Jews” and “the Gentiles” and “the Church of God” is called "Dispensational truth" (1 Cor. 10:32).
An Overview of Chapters 9-11
• Chapter 9—Paul shows that the sovereign election of Israel still stands, and that God, being sovereign, has every right to call Gentiles into blessing today.
• Chapter 10—Paul presents the moral responsibility of man to believe the gospel—whether Jew or Gentile. He reports that the Jews have failed in this responsibility and this has opened the door for blessing to go out to the Gentiles, and many of them have come into blessing through faith.
• Chapter 11—Paul explains that the stumbling of Israel is only a temporary thing; the eventual rejection of grace by the Gentiles will prepare the way for Israel's restoration, whereupon the promises to their fathers will be fulfilled.
This section of the epistle (chaps. 9-11) begins in a sorrowful tone (chap. 9:1-2), but it ends with a note of triumph and rejoicing (chap. 11:33-36). It ends on a happy note because, as Paul explains, God is in complete control of everything, and He will work out all things for His own glory and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, and also for the blessing of those who will believe. Knowing this gives Christians confidence to trust God in His dispensational ways, and to praise Him even now for His ways, before we see His plans for the blessing of the world come to fruition in the kingdom of Christ.